VOTERS in the former Labour safe seat of Wakefield are expected to deliver a damning verdict on the Conservative Government on Thursday.
It is widely expected Labour will retake the seat following the resignation of Imran Ahmad Khan (below) after he was jailed for 18 months for sexually assaulting an underage boy.
The seat is a must-win for Keir Starmer’s party if they have any hope of victory in the next general election.
Wakefield, a small city in West Yorkshire, was a Labour stronghold for 87 years before being snatched up by the Conservatives in 2019 in an election dominated by Boris Johnson’s Brexit agenda which saw his party dismantle the so-called “Red Wall”.
Electors in Wakefield voted overwhelmingly to leave the EU – with 63% of voters there voting for Brexit compared with the Yorkshire average of 58% and the national average of 52%.
They were at odds with the former MP, Europhile Mary Creagh, who demanded Labour under Jeremy Corbyn give "full-throated support” to a second EU referendum.
It was too easy for Johnson’s charismatic candidate – who was literally parachuted in to make a wry joke about his local origins – to denounce incumbent Mary Creagh as a condescending Remainer and walk to victory.
Just a few years later, Labour is confident of regaining the seat, with voters disgusted not only by the paedophilic past of the ex-MP but the wider rule-breaking and incompetence of the Tory Government.
They might also have been given a boost by the bumbling stooge the Conservatives have chosen to fight their corner – Nadeen Ahmed (above).
Ahmed was pilloried for comments made on the campaign trail when he compared his predecessor with GP-cum-serial killer Harold Shipman (below) – who died in the local prison.
He urged voters not to lose faith in the Tory party just as they hadn’t turned against all GPs after Shipman’s horrific crimes were exposed.
Ahmed has since apologised for the comments.
An array of parties are fighting the election – from the Northern Independence Party and local devolutionists the Yorkshire Party to Ukip and the Monster Raving Looney Party.
But all eyes will be on Simon Lightwood, the Labour candidate and Ahmed.
What are the odds?
Two polls have predicted a clear Labour win, with one predicting a 23% lead for the party and the other giving the only slightly more modest prediction of 20%.
Bookmakers have said it’s odds on for Starmer, with Sky Bets giving odds of 1/100 for a Labour victory, versus odds of 18/1 for a Conservative win.
Coupled with predictions the party could be set to lose its enormous majority in the safe seat of Tiverton and Honiton, Thursday could be a disaster for Johnson.
If Wakefield – a cornerstone of the “Red Wall” – falls to Labour and Tory heartland voters start abandoning the Prime Minister, his winning electoral coalition could be doomed.
